The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

SOCIAL Services Minister Frankie Campbell vehemently denied rumours circulating in a viral voice note, stating the defamatory claims of him impregnating the daughter of an alleged sweetheart. He said the claim was not only untrue, but embarrassing to him in his professional capacity.

Mr Campbell made the comments when he gave evidence during the trial of Capprio Saunders.

Saunders is charged with intentional libel after she was accused of recording a WhatsApp voice note alleging that Mr Campbell impregnated the daughter of an alleged sweetheart.

The recording was played in court yesterday.

In the clip, a woman could also be heard saying “it is alleged” that Mr Campbell told the woman “not to kill the baby” and that his wife “broke up all the glass in their house” after she heard the news.

After asking “Is it true...I don’t know,” the person speaking in the audio also asserted that Mr Campbell was a “naughty boy”, congratulated the minister for having a “bitty” (a young girl) and stated they were not surprised by the rumours because Haitian men were known to “go with their own daughters”.

Saunders maintains her not guilty plea during her trial before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

When Mr Campbell took the stand yesterday, he said he received information of the voice note going around by several people who sent it to him via WhatsApp.

He insisted the contents of the recording were “untrue” and said he was “hurt and annoyed” by the claims, as he had “spent a significant part of his adult life protecting the vulnerable and marginalised” in society and “speaking out against gender-based violence and the protection and upliftment of women and girls” in his present ministry.

“I was most appalled as the father of three beautiful daughters and the grandfather of a beautiful granddaughter, at suggestions that I would have had sex with them,” he told the court.

“In my professional capacity it’s most embarrassing having had the privilege to represent the Bahamas as part of the United Nations speaking out against matters such as these.

“...Since this I have been the butt of many unpleasant jokes and subjected to ridicule and embarrassment.”

The court was told that Sergeant 1492 Dale Strachan was the officer in charge of the Digital Forensic and Investigation Unit at the time of the incident.

When he testified, he said he had received a complaint from Mr Campbell on April 12. He said after talking with the minister, he spoke with two witnesses and extracted one WhatsApp voice note of a male voice and another audio of a female voice.

Sgt Strachan said as a result of the information received, he interviewed Saunders who was informed that she was suspected of posting a WhatsApp voice note defaming Minister Campbell’s character.

“While in the interview I asked Saunders a series of questions. Some she answered and some she said no comment,” he said. “At the end of the interview she refused to sign.”

Sgt Strachan said when Saunders was questioned in custody, he played the voice note and she “acknowledged it was her voice” in the recording.

“I further asked her about the comments in the voice note and (whether) she verified them before posting. She said no, she got the information from other Facebook posts.

“I also asked her about the name of Mr Campbell’s sweetheart mentioned in the voice note (and) about the young lady who was (allegedly) pregnant for him. She said she had no information on who the sweetheart was.”

The officer said when he asked Saunders if the information she posted served the public’s interest, she declined to comment.

He said after further investigation, Saunders returned to the Central Detective Unit on April 25, where she was formally charged with libel.

Saunders is represented by attorney Maria Daxon. During her cross-examination of Mr Campbell, she noted that the word “alleged” was used throughout the WhatsApp recording.

When she asked Mr Campbell to identify how many times he heard the word in the clip, he said about four times. However, he stated that in his view, he was “satisfied” that the person in the recording was not making allegations.

“In my mind she could have said ‘It is alleged’ a million times. Once she said she ‘is not surprised’ and ‘why did you do that,’ it is beyond alleged. (She) told a malicious lie in her voice note,” he said.

Mrs Daxon then followed up by asking the minister if he had any extra-marital affairs and whether he had a son.

In response, Mr Campbell said when he mentioned his daughters, he spoke about them in “context” because of the allegations that Haitian men dated their daughters.

When Mrs Daxon attempted to ask Mr Campbell if he “ever had a sweetheart”, Magistrate McKinney overruled the question and said the defence could not go on a “fishing expedition”.

“This is not an inquiry, this is a trial,” he told Mrs Daxon.

The matter resumes on August 4.